Name: Fabien Calloud

Two Hebrew creation readings

1. Read these two stories in Genesis --
A. Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 [7 Days story]
B. Genesis 2:4 – 3:24 [Eden story]

Explain at least one specific example how the two stories -- a & b -- (or the two parts)
offer different descriptions/details from each other. 
Explain also at least one specific example how the two stories or two parts give similar
descriptions/details (other than creation).

The two stories are relatively similar, both stories are about creation. In the first story we can see the steps
and the process of how God created Earth and everything that represents it. The second story is a very
detailed story in which he has created different rivers and has made a human. The difference between
these two stories is that in the first story, God has created all sorts of things to shape the earth. In the
second story, we look at a specific event that happened during the sixth and the seventh day. The details
we get from the first story are very basic and offers an overall view of what God has created in 7 days. In
the second story however, we get more specifics on what God has created, examples are the garden of
Eden where the first man and the woman were created. Also, a difference we can see between the two
stories is how they address God differently. In the first story he is addressed as God and in the second as
Lord God.
A similarity between the two stories apart that they are about the creation of earth and mankind, it’s about
how God has shaped the things in his image. All the things he has created is the work of God in which he
seems to have a tremendous liking to his creation. This a similarity that is present in both stories as he
likes what he sees about him creating the earth and also creating the man. In both stories we can see that
the image he has created is based on himself as it is said in the story, “And God created the human in his
image” (pg. 159). He wants the human to worship him, as he is the creator of things.

2. Job -- What key, distinctive ideas does this story show us (through the character Job)  
            about life and suffering, about the human condition?
Quote evidence.  Cite the page number from the book - or - chapter and verse from an online
text

Throughout this story Job has encountered a lot of sufferance. His belief and dedication to God was the
reason he endured such pain. God has praised Job in front of Satan because of his compassion and
kindness towards other. Therefore, Satan challenges God that if he punishes him enough Job will start to
curse on God. From that point Job endures a lot of pain caused by Satan. During the course of this story
Job has lost a lot. At first, Job loses his cattle’s, his livestock, and the most devastating of all the news he
received is the one where he was told his kids who have died. After these events, we would expect Job to
curse and to turn his back on God, but he does the opposite, “Naked I came out from my mother’s womb,
and naked shall I return there. The LORD has given and the LORD has taken. May the LORD’s name be
blessed”(pg. 194) he prays to God after all this tragedy. This shows that a man like Job who has suffered
a loss that is painful for any human being continues to pray to God, this shows that Job believes in his
God no matter what happens. I believe that if we have a strong belief about something no matter what life
throws at us, we will always hold on to this belief, like Job here in this story. Not only does Job deal with
this suffering by losing everything but he also has to hear his three friends who they think that Job has
committed a sin to make God punish him. This is also about human condition, of whether Job gives in
and listens to his friends accusing of something that is not true. He does not give in into the temptation of
cursing his God. At the end of the story, God interrupts this torture and communicates with Job. Job’s
response to God is “I know you can do anything and no devising you is beyond YOU. […] And I repent
in dust and ashes.” (pg. 217) This answer pleases God in which he gives back everything he had lost. In
this story we can see that a man’s suffering in life may only be temporarily, and in Job’s case praying and
always believing in God has helped to overcome the sufferance and he regained his fortune and his life.

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